TN: Bruno Giacosa Dinner

BRUNO GIACOSA DINNER - Ci Siamo, 440 W 33rd St Suite #100, NYC (1/31/2025)

A motley group of old friends and Nebbiolo lovers got together at the Ci Siamo restaurant in NYC. Everybody brought a wine made by Bruno Giacosa. I tried to make sensible flights from this random selection. I think I did a good job, if I do say so myself. Dinner started around 8:30pm.

Ci Siamo is a fairly new restaurant from Danny Meyer. The food and style are a lot like his Maialino, which is saying a lot. All the food was delicious. The chef in charge here is Hillary Sterling.

Photos and more details can be found on my website.

Starter

Santo Stefano

  • 1982 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Riserva Santo Stefano - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
    [Double-decanted around 11am. Lots of sediment. Left open in the bottle for 2 hours.] Stunning nose of cherries, iron, and fruitcake spice. Expansive, mouth-filling wow wine. This is clearly at its peak. An extraordinary wine of incredible complexity. Long, long finish. One of Bruno's greatest wines. This was my WOTN until the 1996 Falletto Riserva. (99 points)
  • 1996 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Santo Stefano - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
    [Double-decanted around 5:30pm.] Muted nose of dark red fruit and beef bouillon. Silky smooth in the attack. Long, complex finish of black fruit and spice. Just a gorgeous wine at the beginning of its peak drinking window, which should last another 15-20 years. (96 points)

Villero

  • 1989 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Villero di Castiglione Falletto - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
    [Double-decanted around 6:30pm.] Vibrant nose of roast beef, spice, and red fruit. Still young with firm tannins and loads of black fruit and a hint of beef. I think will continue to improve for another 10 years. 95-?? (95 points)
  • 1996 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Villero di Castiglione Falletto - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
    [Double-decanted around 11am. Lots of sediment. Left open in the bottle for 2 hours.] Big, black fruit nose with a hint of cocoa. Long and sweet, with plenty of life ahead. Sadly, this was the last vintage of Giacosa Villero. (95 points)

1998s

  • 1998 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Riserva Santo Stefano - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
    [Double-decanted around noon.] Beautiful floral bouquet with hints of beef blood and spice. Vibrant, long, expansive. This doesn't have the power of most SSRs, but it makes up for that with great elegance and perfume. (98 points)
  • 1998 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Falletto di Serralunga d'Alba - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
    [Double-decanted around noon.] Sweet red fruit in the nose with hints of tar and licorice. Elegant. Fully ready to drink now. Sweet, long, lovely. (95 points)

Le Rocche del Falletto

Note that the grapes that have gone into Le Rocche del Falletto (since 1997) are from the same subplot of Falletto that was used to make Falletto Riservas up to and including the 1996. So, these wines were made from the same subplot of Falletto.

  • 1999 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Le Rocche del Falletto di Serralunga d'Alba - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
    [Double-decanted around 5:30pm.] Loads of black fruit and licorice in the nose. Vibrant, expansive. This has been drinking well since release, but this may be the best bottle yet. Gorgeous, silky black fruit. The tannins are well integrated. Undoubtedly one of the best white labels ever. (97 points)
  • 1996 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Riserva Falletto di Serralunga d'Alba - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
    [Double-decanted around 8pm.] Big burly, red fruit nose. Stunningly complex in the nose and mouth. OMG! This is the best showing yet for this great wine. Mind-blowing perfume. The finish lasts forever. My WOTN by a narrow margin over the 1982 SSR. (100 points)

2004 Rabajà

  • 2004 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Rabajà - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
    [Double-decanted for 1.5 hours at 6am.] This was the only wine tonight that clearly needed more time. Very young and quite powerful. Big and tannic with plenty of fruit. I would wait 10 years to try this again. 95-?? (95 points)

Another special evening with these great friends and great wines and excellent food!

Posted from CellarTracker.

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Your website link didn’t work. We ate at Ci Siamo last time in NYC and really enjoyed it. Food and service were great. It was, however, very loud

Nice work Ken.

I drank my bottles of 1996 Falletto Riserva far too young, but boy were they good! One of the great wines.

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Try clearing your cache.

Come visit. This was someone else’s bottle. I still have a bunch.

One of the greatest wines I’ve ever had in my life. The apotheosis of Nebbiolo (at least for me). Those '96 Giacosas are special.

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These are fantastic notes. Thanks for posting them. Own quite a few of these been waiting to open. Sounds like time to do just that

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I’m on the way!

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Thanks for the great notes, Ken. I stole your bottle prep information for my tasting note so thank you. It was great to see you and hang with everyone. Some pretty special wines that night. I’ll try to get my notes in the next couple days. Thanks again, and great to see you all.

cheers.

T

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